Neil Cartwright pleased with upturn in fortunes

RECORD Knitters appearance holder Neil Cartwright enjoyed his first start and first goal of the season on Tuesday night, and insists the side will have a good year “if we treat every game like it’s Telford away”.

RECORD Knitters appearance holder Neil Cartwright enjoyed his first start and first goal of the season on Tuesday night, and insists the side will have a good year “if we treat every game like it’s Telford away”.

There can be few tougher tests in Blue Square North than a trip to the New Bucks Head, and Cartwright is hoping the Knitters can keep turning in similar performances on a smaller stage.

After the game, the midfielder reflected on a much-improved team performance and an upturn in his own fortunes.

He said: “Tonight in the first half we were fantastic and it was a real turnaround from Saturday. You know you’re going to get a tough game here and at half-time we knew they were going to throw everything at us and bring on fresh legs. They have a fantastic squad here which is probably stronger than anyone’s in the league.

“It was just a shame that we couldn’t hang on to it but I suppose at the start of the game we would have taken a point. But it does feel a little bit like two points dropped.

“It was nice to get on the scoresheet and nice to play. I felt quite sharp - it has been nice to have a pre-season under my belt for a change. I have been desperate to get in the team and get playing. I’ve not had my chance until tonight but I felt it went quite well.”

On his own fitness, the 27-year-old is reporting no problems from his continued recovery from the double leg break he suffered against the Bucks two seasons ago.

“There’s still some metal in there but I don’t feel it at all. It’s not a problem at all any more,” he said.

Thoughts now turn to the visit of Vauxhall Motors to the Greene King Stadium this Saturday.

“It’s a game we should be winning but we said that about Hyde as well,” said Cartwright.

“The thing is with this league is I don’t think you can ever be confident [of a result] one week to the next. It is just such a lottery and we just have to treat every game like it’s Telford away. We need to treat every game like it is going to be really, really hard.

“Vauxhall have improved a lot and we have just got to make sure we start like we did tonight.”